A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Meryna had done her best to heal Boyle and that had ended a couple of minutes earlier but Boyle felt he needed to pick his moment. For one thing, he needed his sword. His actual sword and not the secondary one he wielded when he lost it.

Boyle's main sword was tailored to his needs and capable of enduring his Mana output for the best result. Even now as he kept his sword inside the Orc Priest's chest, Boyle channeled his mana through it, strengthening it and ensuring it didn't get pulled out.

For as long as the enemy was still blessed by its god, a stab to the heart might not be enough.

"How—?!" The Orc Priest croaked.

"What does the 'How' matter?" Boyle asked through gritted teeth,

"Just die now you son of a bitch!"

The Orc Priest had every right to be confused. It had been so quick to erect shields before projectiles could hit him. It had been capable enough to ward off beams and other magical and physical attacks including surprise stomps from the black horse that got away.

Even while it had done all this, the Orc Priest was very confident in its senses, and yet, for a few seconds, Boyle had vanished from those senses.

It was a trick skill the Knight had acquired long ago. It was not particularly standard for Knights and was more a tactic for Assassins. Boyle had been fortunate to have an encounter with one long ago and this was what he gained from the experience; The ability to wipe his presence from all detecting senses. The technique was very taxing and would be instantly broken the moment Boyle struck out an attack so it was not something he defaulted to often.

But then, even without coordinating with Henry and Eloise, the two had attacked the Orc Priest and gripped its attention so much that Boyle could employ the technique, sneak close to the Orc, and stab his sword into its back before it had the chance to move.

"Haha—" the Orc Priest laughed suddenly and raised a hand coated in red liquid mana to grip the blade of Boyle's sword that had thrust out its chest.

Blood dripped from the corner of its lips and its red eyes dimmed in their glow. It was clearly dying. The energy to even move its body and speak seemed forced and only possible due to its god's blessing and yet, somehow, the Orx Priest appeared confident.

"If I die, I'll be damned sure to take you with me!" It let out in a chilly raised voice and its mana exploded from its body in a forceful wave targeted at Boyle. The wave began to shred the magical metal of the Knight's armor and cut his skin but Boyle held on. He released his Mana in defense but he was clearly lacking.

And then…

*Bang!*

… a gunshot sounded.

The Orc Priest's head snapped back at the force of the shot. So lacking already with its heartbeat slowing, its reflexes and enhanced senses failed to alert it to the coming projectile. Or maybe they did and it just could not do anything about it.

Either way a bullet —almost completely unbothered by the forceful wave of mana that surrounded the Orc's body— was now lodged in its skull. Breaking through the very spot the sigil of the god's blessing had been stamped on the Orc Priest's forehead.

The light in its eyes was finally snuffed. The tempest of mana quieted and it hit the ground face-first with a dull and powerful *Thud*.

It was over.

[For your Contribution in the death of the {Blessed} Orc Priest, you have received 750 Exp]

Clearly, Henry's shot was not technically considered a killing strike by the System. It seemed like a debatable detail but Henry was hardly bothered to try.

The four Clerics had already surrounded the unfortunate Knights who had been speared into the ground. The spears had vanished the moment the stab was complete which left gaping holes that bled profusely.

The Clerics were fervent in their prayers but two of the Knights didn't recover. One succumbed almost immediately to the stab. The other couldn't hold on during the healing.

The Former Slaves had fought well. The best among them was Aaron who rivaled Andor in kills but all of them had survived because none of them had charged the Orc Priest as the Knights had.

Boyle and the rest of the Knights who did survive the ordeal, with Eloise standing by his side as second in command, performed the final rites of the dead Knights as outlined by the Citadel's guidelines.

The expedition was not over yet and even if it was, it was highly doubtful the bodies of the Knights could be carried out. They were going to be laid to rest there.

The process went on for about ten minutes. Henry volunteered to go up in the tree and keep a lookout in case enemies were coming toward their location. All the sounds of battle might have attracted attention. Eloise would have kept a lookout with her sensory spell but she seemed a bit exhausted magically and was also focused on the rite.

Nyx folded her legs beneath herself beside Andor who stroked her as she occasionally let out contended huffs.

Henry did keep a lookout but it was clear quickly that nothing was coming at them at least for a while. The trees blocked his sights from getting too far and his Perception could only be stretched so far before it became useless.

When the Rite was almost over down below, Henry heard the sudden flapping of wings and blinked when a bird landed atop a tree branch that was about three feet from him.

The bird looked like a raven but there was a metallic glint to its talons that were wrapped around the branch it was on. Its beak was the same but it was its eyes that were most attention-grabbing and nerve-wracking.

The eyes were bleak black but the longer Henry stared at them, he was sure he could see a puff of black smoke within each eye. The smoke would combust somewhat and expand to the edges and for a split second, the eyes would be clear before another smoke took its place and the process continued over and over again.

The raven never broke eye contact and as Henry stared, he started to feel his skin crawling. The feeling was very uncomfortable and yet, he couldn't look away. Those eyes held him down and refused to let him go.

And then the raven flapped its wings and flew off.

Henry tried to follow the raven's travel but then Eloise called him from below,

"Henry, come on," she said, "Let's go."

Shaking his head, Henry decided to put the matter with the bird out of his mind.

He landed on the ground and the group moved on deeper into the Forest. Their search for the Dungeon Boss and the end of the Evolving Dungeon continued.

"I have to say, I think we'd have been better off trying to find the exit," Aaron said his voice carrying,

"What if we meet something else like that? Hell, what if we meet two of 'em?" He asked referring to the dead Orc Priest whose body they had left behind by at least a hundred feet.

No one answered Aaron and as much as his fellow Former slaves agreed with him, they also wondered how they'd fare on their own as Henry had pointed out when he convinced them to stay. Without magic like Eloise's to sense ahead, and with no actual sense of direction in this jungle of a Dungeon, they were much more likely to face a horde and get killed off than they were to find a Gate.

The Knights were especially focused. They had lost a couple of comrades and their job was not yet done so they had no patience to entertain the mouthy Former slave.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And so, after a while of complaints and murmurs, Aaron went silent.

It didn't take long after they continued moving that Eloise called attention to enemies up ahead.

"They're all over," she said, "On the ground and In the trees."

"Any like the Orc Priest?" Boyle asked.

Eloise shook her head,

"No. But I'm sure they'll have casters."

"Alright," Boyle said.

Experience new stories on empire

None of the Knights suggested going around. They kept silent and prepared to charge forward as though killing Orcs would lessen the pain of their loss.

"Can we win?" Boyle asked.

"We can," Eloise said just as hungry for a battle and kills as her comrades.

With that, Boyle began strategizing. Andor and the Former Slaves were charged with staying close to the Clerics and protecting them.

Henry took to the trees again. He had his perception out and knew exactly when he would be within range of the Orc Archers in the trees. It wouldn't take long before they caught sight of him so he seized the initiative, firing a shot and killing one of them before they sighted him many feet away from them.

[Kill-Reward: 500 Exp]

Henry's shot was the signal for those below and they charged.

The Orcs were first caught by surprise when one of their own fell out of the tree with a bullet in its head but when the Knights charged at the enemies below, they drew their bows to attack them.

Henry put a stop to this by firing shot after shot…

[Kill-Reward: 500 Exp]

[Kill-Reward: 500 Exp]

[Kill-Reward: 500 Exp]

[Kill-Reward: 500 Exp]

[Kill-Reward: 500 Exp]

[Kill-Reward: 500 Exp]

… Killing six more before they had the sense to know to aim at him first.